They are setting things up for the Christmas special, like in season 2. Last years finale could have served as a show finale, the Christmas episode was more or less stand alone.
The Christmas Special looks pretty good judging from the clips I’ve seen. 
I wonder how big a time jump series 5 will have. The UK saw it’s first Labour government in 1924; it only lasted a year, but it’d still be fun to see how Robert & Tom react. Speaking of Tom; the Irish Free State’s up and running by now.
I guess I shouldn’t have hoped that the Christmas Special would improve over the previous episode.
Unless you’re a fan of Rose, that was the dullest episode yet.
I agree it was a little too Rose-centric, and the Prince of Wales subplot was dull. I did like seeing the Levinsons; though I think MacLaine was underutilized. Was it just me, or did Martha seem bitchier than her last appearance?
I understand not wanting to write Daisy out of the show, but I really hope she get’s something next series beyond staying at Downton waiting for Mrs Patmore do die. I’m sure Mr Mason’s offer still stands. Or she could actually find a suitor. Barrow is just as conniving as ever, but Tom sure put him in his place (though taking Miss Bunting back to the Abbey was pretty stupid). For both of them, I imagine village schoolmistresses had some pretty strict restriction on their social lives. I assume the village school is attached to the parish church of which Lord Grantham is patron off which indirectly makes him her employer, doesn’t it? And at least now we know why Gregson was sent to Munich instead of Berlin. 
Speaking of that, how much you wanna bet that at some point next series Lord Grantham will admiration for that Mussolini fellow in Italy (Violet doing so would be downright hilarious).
I hate seeing more of the “is Bates a murderer?” crap and if he is how stupid would he be to leave a ticket stub in his pocket? But that last scene was totally worth the whole episode.
Finally made it through the entire episode after falling asleep twice.
Does every meeting between Branson and school teacher have to be “meet cute”?
I was confused about Freda Dudley Ward, was she not received? Because she was cut a couple times at the beginning.
I liked the idea of the Prince of Wales/stolen letter plot at the beginning. It was right out of a novel of the period but it went downhill fast with labored maneuvering (a long picnic followed by: we’re going to the theatre? “I suppose I’d better change.” “I’d rather play cards”). It could not have been written more awkwardly. Like I said, I was half-asleep so why did all the women have to leave so the men could play cards? Why did Rose make that remark (down in the kitchen with Lady Mary) about having more people spend the night?
Did anyone else think Shirley MacLaine was having difficulty saying her lines? She seemed breathless. I didn’t like her in the earlier episode and she was no better in this one. Even her final big scene with Maggie Smith was a damp squib. She was out of her depth. Paul G was a disappointment too but mostly because he was badly directed and saddled with the worst dialogue. The producers should have just hired Jeremy Piven and been done with it.
And what the hell was that scene with Edith at the end? Who was that guy? Where did he come from? It wasn’t pig farmer, I’m pretty sure, and not the married farmer she tried to seduce during WWI. Whoever he is, he’s pretty quick to deceive his wife and it looks like Edith is going to take her baby back from the Swiss couple who adopted her. Of course it will upset the baby and the adoptive parents will be devastated but none of that matters because spineless Edith is taking charge of her life. Ugh, who writes this crap? [rhetorical question] All that remains is for Newspaper Guy to come back from the dead claiming amnesia.
I thought this was the best season since Season 1 but the worst Christmas Special.
That was the pig farmer, Mr Drewe. He was the one whose father was a tenant on the estate and when the father died Robert and Mary got into a snit over what to do with the tenancy. Robert lends Drewe part of the money for the rent and Drewe takes over farming and care of the pigs.
Oh it was him? He looked totally different indoors. Also it was my impression that he wasn’t married (hence my elaborate scenario above that he rescues pregnant Edith by marrying her) but I don’t know how I would have known that.
And another thing that bugged me: the convenient disclosure that Mary’s Suitor #2 (names!) is heir to a vast estate himself. Suitor #1 is still so underwritten that all we know about him is he ditched his fiance and he’s “an old family friend” that we’ve barely heard of before. If he only had some scenes where he did something, *anything *aside from mooning over Mary. Then we could take this rivalry more seriously.
I ask myself why am I still watching? Well, the sets, clothing, and cinematography are still so lovely and Maggie Smith who single-handedly saved Season 2.
There were several things that bugged me about this episode, the biggest of which were the numerous giant plotholes around the Bates ticket thing.
And another thing. Mary backpedalling re the Bates ticket, “I can’t let this go”, before finally burning it after Bates proved his worth yet again.
Someone give Thomas more to do than creep up on the Lady’s Maid and ask her for “stories”. How many times is Mosely going to rescue her?